Strike set to cripple Home Affairs
Workers at the Department of Home Affairs are set to down tools.
The Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA) has served the department with a notice of its intention to strike due to unhappiness over working hours.
The PSA's acting General Manager, Tahir Maepa, says the strike is set to start next month.
The association declared a dispute at Home Affairs following a decision to change working hours at the department.
"These ammendments was done without any consultation with the employees," Maepa says.
He believes the strike will have far-reaching implications as all Home Affairs personnel - including immigrations officials at ports of entry - to join the strike.
"This means that 75% of our members will be going on strike and this will result in no movement between any other countries and South Africa," he says.
Maepa says the department engaged in protracted litigation to "avoid dealing with the matter”.
"The arrogance of the department’s conduct resulted in the Director-General of Home Affairs taking the PSA and other unions to the Constitutional Court. This only to find that the court ruled against the department in favour of the PSA," Maepa says.
The PSA has now served the department with a 10 day notice to embark on strike action from the 19th of June.
"We do however, remain available to the department for discussions in an attempt to avert the strike," says Maepa.